The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1887-01-06
ROOTS FOR STOCK.
h Proper Way OF Preserving Them I
Use in Winter and Spring.

ROOTS FOR STOCK.
The Proper Way Of Preserving Them for
Use in Winter and Spring.
To a large extent. ensilage is taking
the place of roots on dairy farms. tits be-
lieved by many to be a cheaper food and
to make richer milk than roots. This,
however, is questioned by some excel
lent feeders. The difference in-cost
between an equal value of feed in en-
silage and roots is not much, and a
modification of circumstances may
make one OF the other the cheaper
food. As a green food for mich COWS,
either may be q substitute for the
other, but their continued use upon the
health of stock and upon the quality
of milk can hardly be considered
identical. Roots are food in its natural
state, but ensiiage a hardly
be SO considered. 1t is,
Of necessity, altered by fermenta-
ton. Its carbohydrates are partially
burned and altered by the conversion
of starch and sugar into acid, and its
albuminoids are more or less broken
up by furnishing food for bacteria,
and by decomposition from
oxidation, and its mineral con-
~stituents must evidently be altered ma
terially by a change in the juices in
which they are dissolved from a neu-
trail to a strongly acid condition. But
ensilage is s~ucculent and easy of digest
ion, and by a judicious discrimination
in the selection of material for the silo,
it may be made to produce more and
richer milk than roots, but both are
more profitably fed in connection with
more heterogeneous food than when used
alone. For breeding stock and for fur
nishing milk in the most wholesome
condition for the use of invalids and
infants, roots, by supplying food in a
| perfectly natural and unaltered state,
are to be preferred to any fermented
food. They are also especially valua-
BILE as an appetizer and a health-in-
spring food in the season of dry fodder,
and should not be dropped out of the
winter diet for dairy COWS even where
ensilage is used. With a little care and
labor they are easily preserved SO as to
be convenient for use at any time in the
winter.
The best arrangement for storing
roots for stock in winter is a large eel
lar adjacent to a stable in the basement
of a cow-barn or stable for other stock.
1t is important that aroot-cellar should
not be wanting in size, for if it is, the
vegetables will be very sure to warm
up and decay. All kinds of green
roots, green fruit and green vegetation
of every sort undergo a slow but steady
change if exposed to the air at any
temperature much above freezing,
The corroding tendency OF the free
oxygen in the air, by its strong affinity
for carbon, causes it to combine with
the carbon in the carbohydrates moi
only, but also with the carbon in the
proteine or ~iesh-forming compounds
of green vegetation, converting the
carbon into carbonic acid gas. The
production of this gas is always accom-
panied with the development of heat
according to the amount of gas formed
The heat generated in a pile of fresl
| IOOUS IL COholNlCld i = ID ~ ~
that the space in which they are stored
if too contracted, soon becomes apprec
iably warmer, which serves not only Il
hasten the process of oxidation, bu
hastens decay as we'll. A r%oot-cellar
therefore, should have ample space
so that the heat generated shall no
be confined to the roots, but have roon
L. a- ~f os~ ~ ho lsct,s1r,fo
through the whole Enclosure, and b,
means of ventilation carried out AM
colder air take its place. The close
the temperature of the cellar %approache
to freezing, the slower will be bot
oxidation and decay. Unless it is low
the shrinkage of roots in an airy roor
from evaporation and oxidation to
gether, is considerable. 1t will easil
run from twenty-five to thirty-fve pc
cent. in the course of a winter. S
much of this shrinkage is due to evaI
Grafton that the roots are continual
growing richer in proportion to bull
and weight. But a good circulation {
air is essential to preservation unles
the roots are kept cold by contact wit
damp earth, as when buried. A stor'
room for roots should have ample col
nection with the outside air in earl
winter, but susceptible of being graz
ually closed up as freezing weatht
comes on, and if need be in extren
weather, to have an open connectio
with an adjacent stable that the he;
radiating from the stock may prevel
freezing. With such an arrangement
f roots can be fed with best advantag,
as they are safe for preservation or fl
l use at any time the feeder may prefe
0 National Live- Stock Journal. /: